Festival 2014 offers something for everyone during Games time

More than a thousand performances in over one hundred different locations across Glasgow will be staged as part of the Cultural celebrations for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Everything from family days out to concerts to thrilling site specific events are included in the huge line-up for Festival 2014 which runs from July 19 to August 3 alongside the Games themselves.

For full information about the Festival 2014 programme please pick up a free brochure which is available across the city or go to the Festival 2014 website.

Performances have already been staged all over Scotland as part of Culture 2014, building momentum towards the start of Festival 2014 during Games time in Glasgow before Culture 2014 picks up again with events at the Edinburgh Festivals and beyond.

The Glasgow Green Live Zone will see this well-loved city park transformed into a “home” hosting a free house party with events, performances and live coverage of the sporting action on the main stage in the “Living Room”. Some of Scotland’s leading food producers will showcase the best Scottish Ingredients in the giant food village in “The Kitchen” with come and try sports sessions being held in the “Back Garden”.

The ‘Playhouse’ will be a very special spiegeltent hosting come and try arts activities, tea dances and comedy while a specially designed ‘wee house’ will recreate the whole site to scale for younger visitors.

The Glasgow Green Live Zone will host performers and artists from across Scotland and throughout the Commonwealth. Among the entertainment and performances on offer are Lloyd Cole and Edwyn Collins as part of the Glasgow Mix-Tape from Chemikal Underground, an Emancipation Day Carnival, a Mela at the Green, Celtic Connections and the RSNO performing Classics on the Green.

Malawi’s Lake of Stars festival will be one of the highlights of the Urban Party at Glasgow Green and From Scotland with Love, a film featuring Kenny Anderson directed by Virginia Heath will also be shown with the soundtrack performed live. Boomerang, a tri-nations collaboration featuring Scottish band Breabach, New Zealand’s Moana and the Tribe and Australia's Shellie Morris and Casey Donovan which has already been performed at Womad New Zealand and Sydney Opera House will be part of the Commonwealth Cultures day.

The Merchant City Festival, already renowned for commissioning and presenting the best Scottish and International street theatre and outdoor performance has been expended to 11 days during the Commonwealth Games and features the return of the Vintage festival and the introduction of the Festival 2014 Club at the Old Fruitmarket.

The newly refurbished Kelvingrove Bandstand is hosting family friendly performances, comedy, music and film including screenings of classic films by Bill Forsyth. BBC at the Quay completes the line-up of Festival Venues with live broadcasts of TV and Radio programmes, Live Music and stage shows.

Across Glasgow performances will be staged in some of the city’s best loved theatres, venues and arts spaces, on and around the River Clyde, in parks and city streets and even on the routes to and from the Commonwealth Games venues themselves.

“Festival 2014 will be an amazing celebration of culture which is woven into the fabric of the Commonwealth Games experience. No matter where you are in Glasgow during the Games, you will be able to access performances and events involving some of the best homegrown and Commonwealth talent. There is something for everyone to come and see or take part in at Festival 2014 and most of it is free offering everyone the opportunity to be part of the Games.”

New projects have also been added to the Glasgow 2014 Cultural Programme and will be part of Festival 2014. The Commonwealth will celebrate Nelson Mandela Day in Glasgow on the eve of Festival 2014 while some of Glasgow’s best loved buildings will open to the public for a Wee Doors Open Day. Club Noir presents their Commonwealth Carnival and there’s a rare chance to see Alan Bennett’s Talking Heads being staged by Glasgay!

Other highlights previously announced include Sound to Sea, a dazzling night-time nautical outdoor extravaganza with live music, aerial dance, fireworks, boats and spectacular visuals at the Canting Basin, featuring some of Scotland’s best loved musical talent, The Tin Forest, inspired by the book of the same name and being staged at the South Rotunda, News Just In, a nightly and irreverent look at the days stories from the Commonwealth Games and On Common Ground, where First Nation storytellers from Manitoulin Island, Canada, come together with a cast of over 150 Glaswegians at the Citizens Theatre to tell a story of community, family, the natural world and the bonds we share.

Endurance imagines and recreates the historical and personal stories of Commonwealth sportswomen from across the world, The Empire Café explores Scotland’s relationship with the North Atlantic slave trade through coffee, sugar, tea, cotton, music, visual art, academic lectures, poetry, debate, workshops, historical walks, film and literature, Nicola Benedetti leads the cream of Scotland’s orchestras, classical musicians and ensembles in one amazing Classics Marathon Day of music and Scottish Opera and Alexander McCall Smith combine for Anamchara, a new family opera based on themes of friendship and the ties that bind people together, whatever their age and wherever they make their home.

The Festival 2014 Club launches on 24 July at the Old Fruitmarket with programme featuring some of Scotland’s best contemporary and traditional Gaelic artists – from singers to electronica, and spoken word to rappers. Programmed in association with Celtic Connections, each night the Festival 2014 Club will take you on a journey across the many musical cultures of the Commonwealth. Tickets for the Festival 2014 club and Opening and Closing Ceremony Celebrations at the Old Fruitmarket are on sale from June the 18th and are available from www.glasgowconcerthalls.com or in person from the City Halls or Royal Concert Hall Box Offices or by calling 0141 353 8000.

When Festival 2014 draws to a close, Culture 2014, the nationwide celebration of Culture will spring back to life and will include performances and events at Edinburgh’s world famous summer Festivals, and more fascinating work including including Hanna Tuulikki's Air falbh leis na h-eòin (Away with the Birds), an ambitious site-specific project on the Isle of Canna, East End Social’s final weekend featuring an amazing line up at Richmond Park and the visual arts exhibitions across Scotland which are part of GENERATION.

Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop said:

“2014 is an exciting year for Scotland as we welcome the world to join us in the celebration of the second year of Homecoming, and as the host of the Commonwealth Games and the Ryder Cup. With the launch of Festival 2014 attention will shift to Glasgow, with cultural events transforming the city, maximising the Games experience for visitors and residents and showcasing our talent and creativity to the world.”

“Festival 2014 events will be taking place on riverbanks and roof-tops, community centres, parks, art galleries and even an ice-cream van. I would encourage everyone to join in, be inspired, enjoy yourself and celebrate this special year.”

Councillor Archie Graham, Chair of Glasgow Life and Glasgow City Council’s Executive Member for the Commonwealth Games, said:

“With more than 1,000 performances across more than 100 locations, this really is Glasgow’s time to shine on a global stage, with artists and performers bringing a real buzz to the city during Games time.

“From the fantastic celebrations at Glasgow Green and Kelvingrove Bandstand, to the huge programme at the Merchant City Festival, there really is something for everyone to enjoy. Glasgow knows how to put on a party and this will be the biggest celebration the city has ever seen.”

Janet Archer, CEO, Creative Scotland said:

“The range of artists who are coming together to create the work which is at the heart of Festival 2014 is truly special. Internationally acclaimed award winning artists will be presenting stunning new work in locations across the city, sharing the global platform being part of the Games times Cultural Celebrations provides with new, emerging artists.

“The energy and imagination of some of Scotland and the Commonwealth’s most exciting creative talent will fill the venues, parks, streets, and even the skyline of Glasgow. Their work will dazzle, illuminate and delight. It will also provide moments for contemplation among the buzz of the city, and for reflection and consideration of important questions around sport and the Commonwealth.

“Above all though, their work will be part of an amazing celebration – one of the greatest Scotland has known and it is absolutely vital that the diversity of artistic brilliance this country has will shine out for sixteen promise filled days this July.”

The Commonwealth Games is an international, multi-sport event involving 71 teams of athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930 and takes place every four years. Glasgow 2014 will be the XX Commonwealth Games and will be held from 23 July to 3 August. It will feature 17 sports in 11 days of competition with 261 medal events on show. The Games will play host to 4500 athletes and sell 1,000,000 tickets with the event aided by an army of 15,000 volunteers. Glasgow 2014 Ltd is the official name for the Organising Committee tasked with delivering the Games in partnership with

the Scottish Government, Glasgow City Council and Commonwealth Games Scotland.

Glasgow 2014, the Commonwealth Games Federation and UNICEF are working together in an exciting partnership that will transform the lives of children in Scotland and throughout the Commonwealth. Using the power of sport and culture this unique partnership aims to inspire, enable and empower the children of the Commonwealth to be the best they can be.

The Scottish Commonwealth Games Youth Trust (SCGYT) has been operating since 1989, with the aim of helping young Scottish sportspeople to improve and make use of their abilities as athletes, sports coaches, sports administrators and referees, umpires and judges - by way of grants, bursaries, loans or otherwise.

The Glasgow 2014 Cultural Programme is a national celebration. Culture 2014 is showcasing dance, theatre, music, visual arts, comedy and much more in the run up to and after the Commonwealth Games, with Festival 2014 transforming the Host City at Games time. The Cultural Programme is a partnership between the Glasgow 2014 Organising Committee, Glasgow Life, and Creative Scotland through National Lottery funding. www.glasgow2014.com/culture